A handful of people were miraculously pulled from the wreckage in Washington right after a mountain of mud rolled over two towns there Saturday. But no one has been found alive since, and the grim toll rises by the day.
At least 16 have been confirmed dead. And on Wednesday, rescuers will work to salvage another eight bodies they believe they have located under rubble of the landslide that covers about a square mile.
At least 176 people are unaccounted for. But officials have stressed that some names of those missing have been duplicated, so there is hope the actual number may be smaller.
Finding them will be toilsome in Oso, with a population of about 180, and Darrington, a town of about 1,350. In some places, the debris is 30 to 40 feet thick.
Dayn Brunner's sister is missing and Brunner calls the situation 'absolute chaotic destruction.'
And it will also be dangerous, since some of the mud has the consistency of quicksand and is filled with the wreckage of nearly 50 structures damaged or destroyed.
President Barack Obama, in the Netherlands on Tuesday, asked that "all Americans to send their thoughts and prayers to Washington state and the community of Oso."
Obama said he had spoken with Gov. Jay Inslee and signed an emergency declaration.
See 4-Year-Old Pulled From Landslide
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